Abraham Lincoln

1. Abraham Lincoln • Created the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which led to the dissolution of slavery in America. • Words from Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address, with a “new birth of freedom.”

2. Frontier Youth • Born in a log cabin in Larue County, Kentucky. • During his younger years, Lincoln received little formal schooling. • At age 22, he left home and worked for a trader taking a flatboat down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans.

3. The Rise of Lincoln • In 1834, he ran in his first political race for the state legislature and won, serving four terms as a Whig. • “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free… It will become all one thing, or all the other.” • Lincoln hated slavery and resisted its movement into free territories.

4. Presidency of Lincoln • In the days that followed Lincoln’s election, the country began to fall apart at the seams. • In all, 11 states left the Union by early summer. Difficult days lay ahead for President Lincoln. • Some of Lincoln’s early decisions were controversial. He authorized military spending before Congress approved. He arrested alleged Confederate sympathizers and held them without trial. • Lincoln gave in to everyone’s expectations and the Union and Confederate troops faced one another in the first battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861.

5. Lincoln and the Civil War • Issued the Emancipation Proclamation: Declared that all slaves in all rebellious or seceded states were to be freed as of January 1, 1863. This noble document did not attempt to end slavery but it did change the motivations for the war. • War was fought for two reasons now: • Restoring the Union • Abolishing Slavery • By 1865, Congress ratified the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ending slavery in America.

6. Gettysburg Address • After the successful northern victory at Gettysburg, Lincoln attended the dedication of a national cemetery in the small, Pennsylvania town. • There he delivered his Gettysburg Address, explaining that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom. • With this speech, Americans began to think of their country as a nation rather than as a union. • No longer would any state seriously consider secession from the United States.

7. Facts of Lincoln’s Presidency • Over 600,000 men of both sides sided during the Civil War. • Lincoln used the railroad as a secret weapon moving men and supplies to the front lines. • The telegraph was used to send messages back and forth to generals. Lincoln was the first President to use his commander in chief powers in making battle decisions. • Civil War was the first war to take place after the industrial revolution. • Bloodiest war in American history.